If you would like this to be your blog next week then visit our “Free Blog Review” page and put your entry in!

This weeks Stand Out Blog is:

Blogussion.com

If you have been around blog about blogging niche for any time you are sure to have heard about Blogussion. Alex and Seth have just done some tweaking to their design and when I saw their entry I was excited to see what input I could offer.

So let’s kick things off with the design and aesthetics, as this is the area they have most recently changed, and pull the design apart and see what they are doing well and maybe just a couple of little things that could be tweaked.

read this entry »

As part of running StandOutBlogger, I spend a lot of time visiting a multitude of blogs in many different niches. A lot of them I never return to (for many reasons), but some just draw me in (usually with their content) and I end up subscribing.

So I have decided to (hopefully regularly) highlight a few blogs from a certain niche and just rave on them for a bit. And even if the niche has nothing to do with your blog – you are sure to learn a lot from their blog and their blogging style.

Being a massive fan of entrepreneurship and innovation, I have decided to start with that niche. And the blogs that I have included, I believe are leading the pack in content and delivery in the entrepreneurship niche.

The 10 Entrepreneur Blogs You Need To Follow In 2009! read this entry »

The following is a paid review and is completely my own opinion and not influenced by being paid. If you are interested in having me review your site or product please contact me.

Do You Want To Retire At 21?

I know a few of you may be thinking, ‘but I am already older that 21.’ Thats ok! Because today I will be looking at a website  that although is called RetireAt21.com, Michael Dunlop, the founder says:

I hear you cry. Don’t worry, despite the name, the information and advice is more geared towards retiring prior to having a fake hip installed. Even if you retire just a few years earlier due to the advice at retireat21.com it surely has to be worth taking 5 minutes from your day to check it out… doesn’t it?

But What Credibility Does Michael Have?

Well Michael has something in common with many of the most successful business men in the world. He is young, and a college drop-out – getting his business education the old fashion way. On the street!

Starting his entrepreneurial career on Ebay, Michael soon moved onto websites and currently runs many successful websites including, WebDesignDev.com and RetireAt21.com.

An All-In-One Entrepreneurial Website!

While most websites focus on just one area, RetireAt21.com takes it a couple of steps further and has integrated some of the most important tools an entrepreneur needs online – all in one website. These tools include:

• Interviews With Successful Entrepreneurs
• An Active Entrepreneur Forum
• The Rich List – Top 50 Entrepreneurs Under 30
• Frequently Updated Blog

So let’s take a look at each of these and see how you can benefit from what RetireAt21.com has to offer!

Interviews With Successful Entrepreneurs

You know when you visit a website and they have an interview posts and you have no idea what who the person being interview is? Well that’s not what its like here! Michael has somehow managed to get interviews with some of the most successful online entrepreneurs – that I am almost positive you would not only have heard of, but wish you were even just remotely as successful as them. People Like:

• Darren Rowse – ProBlogger.net
• Aaron Wall – SEOBlook.com
• Matt Walls – SnorgTees.com

An Active Entrepreneur Forum

One of the things that aspiring entrepreneurs really need to focus on is networking! Networking is one of the most important things in business. Finding people you can partner with, learn from and build each other up is what will not only keep you in business but help you turn your project into something big!

The RetireAt21 Forum is a great place for you to meet some of these people! So what makes this forum so special? Well it could be the fact that there are over 2000 members which means that finding people who will compliment your business or website should be quite easy. PLUS they are all there for the same reason that you are – They want to create a successful business or website and want to retire early!

I love getting around people with the same dreams and desire that I have, because it is so inspiring, and keeps me on track. So I strongly suggest you head on over to the forum and register and start networking!

The Rich List

Simply put, this is an inspiring list of the richest 50 entrepreneurs under the age of 30! ‘The Rich List’ ranges from The founder of FaceBook who is worth $700million to the 19 year old founder of Bodis who is already worth $1million!

Frequently Updated Blog

The thing I  have found about websites that include blogs is that they are not usually updated all to often, it is just another service they try to provide – but usually fail! However the thing that Michael has done that as a blogger like, is that he spends a lot of time on the blog section of the website . The way that he does this is by having multiple authors for the blog. The added benefit of this is that the expertise areas is also increased! Check out just a few of the great posts on the blog:

• 10 Reasons Having Your Own Internet Business Is Better Than Any Job
• 6 Lifestyle Choices For Successful Entrepreneurs
• A Beginners Guide To Internet Marketing

Advertising Opportunities

If you have a product or website that is targetted towards entrepreneurs then this seems like a great place to find them and there are many great ways to advertise! But first lets check out the websites stats:

• It’s a PageRank 3
• Alexa Rating Of 77,525!
• 500+ RSS Subscribers

And Here is what a few advertisers have said:

“Wow, when I signed up for advertising on Retire at 21, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, not only do I get a good amount of traffic but Michael has personaly guided me on how to get the most out of advertising on Retire at 21!
I would recommend advertising on Retire at 21 to anyone who wants to promote a new website or a already estimblished website wanting to boost traffic and sales!” – UniversalClients.com

“I have been promoting my Reverse Funnel System on all of Michaels websites for a few months now and I’m still collecting affiliate commissions! I can’t begin to tell you how impressed I am with the amount of quality traffic I receive on a daily basis. I advertise on a lot of different websites and I can honestly tell you that my ads with Michael out-perform all of my other ads. If you have the opportunity to advertise on one of Michaels websites take it!” – ReverseFunnelSystem.com

Nothing like raving reviews!

I must say that Michael has done an amazing job with his advertising page. It is well laid out and gives you all the information you need to make an informed decision. AND, when you are ready to purchase and add you can do it through paypal right there and then.

So why not head on over and check out his advertising offers and if it’s what you are looking for, then grab yourself one of the spots – I’m sure you won’t be dissapointed.

Overview

So there we go, RetireAt21.com seems to be a great website to become a part of if:

• You are an entrepreneur looking for networking opportunities
• You are interested in becoming an entrepreneur and keen on learning
• You are looking for advertising opportunities that target entrepreneurs

One last thing I think you should do before commenting on RetireAt21.com below is to subscribe to his RSS feed!

BlogBadly.com was lucky enough to be our review lab rat, that I get to test my reviewing skills on. What we will be looking at are the goals that Max has set for the blog, who he is targeting and what he is expecting, as well as discussing the things he likes and dislikes about his blog to see if we (including you – with your comments) can offer a few tips to make BlogBadly.com even better.

1. Why Did You Create The Blog?
I created a blog mainly to give me something productive to do rather than just chilling on the computer playing games and using StumbleUpon. I figured that establishing a web presence for myself (especially at a young age) could be something nice to put on a portfolio and I’d learn how to manage a business (that’s what a blog is, after all). Oh, and I also want to become filthy stinking rich. But that’s a side-goal.

I picked the niche of blogging about blogging/SEO/MMO because I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about the subject and it’s something I’m very passionate about.

2. What Are Your Goals For The Blog?
I’d like to have over 400 subscribers and get into the top 30 MMO blogs on 45n5 (currently #80). These two goals basically just involve expanding my readership and reactions to my blog – two things essential for success. Oh, and I also want to become filthy stinking rich ($400+/month by the end of ’08 should do it).

3. Who Is Your Target Market?
My target market? Well, according to me, it’s tech-savvy webmasters who are passionate about increasing their influence on the web. Generally, it’s 18-35 year old males. According to Quantcast, though, it’s old poor white dudes without kids. You tell me which you think is more accurate.

4. What Do You Think Is Good About Your Blog?
The content is probably the best part. I don’t write crappy stuff like plenty of other MMO “gurus.” My advice is funny, practical, and effective, or so I’ve been told. Helping and entertaining my readers is what I’m all about. That and the filthy stinking rich part. I’m also fairly fond of my blog design and that little button that brings you to a random page when you click on it.

5. What Do You Think Needs Improvement?
Improvement? My blog is perfect already!

Well, uh… I guess I could get a custom blog theme and spice it up a bit. I think mine is a little too cluttered. Maybe you can tell me some other things I can put in this category? :)

Lets Have A Look At BlogBadly.com Shall We?
Now we know exactly what Max is trying to acheive with his blog lets take a look at a few of the key areas of a blog to see the areas he is doing well in – and maybe we will be able to give him a few suggestions of areas of improvement. So here we go…

Design & Aesthetics

The design seems nice and clean and looking at the footer it appears to be a free theme. Free themes are a great way to start a blog and make it look nice without spending to much money – so nothing wrong here. One thing I went through with the launch of my new theme was the fact that a lot of bloggers commented that the content was not the priority and there was too much other things taking up too much room. I see a bit of this happening here. Here is what I mean:

One thing I did to try and expand the area of my screen that the content took up was to convert from a 2-column side bar to a single sidebar. Personally I i think it just looks a lot cleaner. Otherwise I really like the theme!

The other main portion of the design is the logo. Everyone who has read my blog knows that branding is one of my favourite topics – and your logo is an essential element of branding.

Looking at your current logo:

I see a nice custom logo. It is unique and has the starting of something that could easily become brandable. The one thing I see that is lacking a bit in the logo is it just feels a little bit plain – it doesn’t stand out enough. Now I am not a graphics designer by any stretch of the imagination but I just played a bit with the colours of your logo to give you a bit of an idea of what I think would help your logo become a bit more brandable.

Notice how it stands out so much more – I’m not saying it has to be those colours, it just needs to be a bit more visible.

Other than those couple of small things, I would say you have done a great job with the design of BlogBadly!

Content

Content is king.

Or atleast that is what everyone is saying. And reading the content on blog badly, I think you have hit the nail on the head when it comes to content. The tagline of BlogBadly is ‘The funny Problogger’. Although the indepth posts like Problogger many not be there, the funny is. Check out some of these posts:

• Blackhat Money Making
• Online Work Habits Efficiency
• How To Talk Yourself Out Of Writing A Blog Post

But inbetween the funny ones there is still a lot of posts that contain quality information that will keep the readers coming back.

Great content!

Traffic

Im just gonna give you 2 quick tips that I used to maximise my blogging reach!

1. Drop your maximum entrecard drops each day!
I think you are allowed to make 300 drops, if you have the time do it! I found doing this along made my traffic jump a great deal, and there are lists of blogs that load quick if you do a quick search that will make your dropping easy!

2. Comment On The Blogs You Entrecard Drop
I think this is where a lot of entrecard droppers miss out on a golden opportunity. If you are already visiting the blog to drop your card, then spend an extra 5 second to see what their latest post is about. If it’s something you’re interested in then leave a comment – that way you are promoting your blog to all that blogs readers as well!

Income

Currently I can see two advertisements slots on the blog. One at the top, and one side banner. Neither of these are generating any money. The quickest way to get these sold is to let you readers know about them. Leave a quick post to tell them whats available and how much, and I bet they’d both be snapped up straight away!

Until then, why not stick affiliate ads in their to at least try and make a few extra dollars a month in commissions. I did this and made $50 from host gator – more then the rest of my income from this blog combined.

Conclusion

Blog Badly is a great blog, with a lot of potential. I think that if you look a little bit into your brandability, and make it a priority to constantly be active in your nicne, that this blog will definately not only be around in 12 months time, but it will be thriving!

I have decided it is time to not only talk about ‘Stand Out’ blogging from a hypothetical perspective, but to take real blogs, with real bloggers and do a full analysis of what they do right and what they can improve on. This will not only benefit the owner of the blog, but it will be a great opportunity for all our readers to learn how their blog can be improved also.

I Am Planning On Reviewing A New Blog Every Week!
Starting with a four week trial to test the results of the reviews. Especially your comments on whether you like it. I think this is a great way for me to give back to you, my readers, something that is valuable and will help improve your blogging.

What Areas Of The Blog Will Be Reviewed?
Great question. I will be looking at the blog as a whole, starting with an introduction of the blog explaining a little bit of background information. Then I will start looking at the pros and cons of the following key areas:

• Target Market
  We will take a look at exactly who this blog is targeted at. This needs to be identified if we are to correctly analyse the following four areas.
• Design & Branding
  Here we will spend some time looking at the blogs theme and logo as well as how brandable their blog currently is and what they can do to improve it.
• Content
  Content is king, as everyone says, so we will spend some time analyzing the content of the blog, posts and pages, and the based on the target market of the blog see what can be done to improve conversion of visitors to subscribers and subscribers to raving fans.
• Marketing/Networking
  How active is this blogger in their niche? This is what we will tackle in this section. We will look at the bloggers current marketing and networking efforts to see how they can increase awareness of their blog in an efficient manner.
• Monetization
  What is being done to make money from this blog? And how can the monthly income generated from this blog be improved? We will look at ways to optimize revenue and increase the blogs earnings.

Would You Love An In Depth Blog Review Like This?
If you want to be the first blogger to get their blog reviewed on StandOutBlogger.com then don’t expect it to be easy. No you don’t have to be a subscriber to enter. This is open to every blogger but I expect a level of effort from the winner.

1. Answer A Few Simple Questions About Your Blog
   Before I visit your blog and start working on the review, I will want to ask you a few questions about your blog so that I can look at things like your target market and your current promotional efforts. This step is important and I will need the info emailed back to me within 48hours of receiving.
2. Be Prepared For Criticism
   I am a big believer in constructive criticism, however I am a positive person and love to focus on the good things, as well as the ways that good things can come from current bad situations. However, my readers may not be so kind, so be prepared a chain of readers opinions

Simple… So How Do I Enter
This part is so easy all you have to do is:

1. Comment Below, Nominating Your Blog For A Review
2. Tell Me In 100 Words Or Less Why Your Blog Should Be Reviewed
3. Post Comment

How simple is that!

You Have 48 Hours To Enter…
So start getting creative with your 100 word answer as this will be how I chose the winner. Here are some ideas that I might like:

• A Funny Answer
• A Serious Answer
• A Suck Up Answer :D
• A Self Sacrificing Answer

In other words ‘be creative’. Make your answer Stand Out from the crowd and get noticed – then get reviewed!

I Will Only Be Reviewing One Blog A Week, so comment below to give your blog a chance to get an in depth blog review for free!

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